Why Cooperative Education & Internships?

Students participating in the Cooperative Education and Internship
Program (CEIP):

gain practical experience in their chosen career fields;

have the opportunity to apply skills and knowledge learned in the classroom
to actual on-the-job experiences;

earn money for school tuition and expenses;

work on state-of-the-art equipment;

learn how to work in teams and adapt to different employment situations;

learn how to work with colleagues in a professional atmosphere by acknowledging
the expertise of their mentors and supervisors in the workplace;

develop technical skills specific to their major and the workplace "know-how" essential
for successful employment in a high performance workplace - that which, cannot
be taught in the classroom;

establish contacts for letters of reference and begin networking for future
employment;

have the opportunity to form decisions about job compatibility;

acquire significant work experience to list on their resumes and increase
the value of their degrees;

develop confidence and learn to interact professionally with workplace
peers;

learn job-seeking and job-holding skills such as: resume writing, professional
letter writing, interviewing and career development preparation;

test their interests and set educational, professional and personal goals
for the future;

improve their opportunities for post-graduation jobs;

discover a variety of employment options within their academic discipline;

often face ethical decisions in the workplace and are forced to develop
moral integrity;

step outside their college environment and experience the culture
of organizations and real-life expectations in the workplace;

invest in their education and, at the same time, increase their worth as
a future employee;

can reality-test careers and make choices based on relevant work experience
in a chosen field;

develop a positive attitude about future career options; have
faith in their ability to be successful; and exhibit greater independence
in their
own judgments; and

improve their understanding of the relationship between theory and practice,
which results in greater academic and career success.

Students who graduate from the Cooperative Education and Internship
Program (i.e, CEIP graduates):

have a greater degree of confidence entering professional employment;

begin at a higher level of responsibility and higher starting salary; and

experience greater satisfaction and advance more quickly in their careers.

The Cooperative Education and Internship Program (CEIP):

helps in career decision-making;

offers students a meaningful educational experience and puts them
on the "fast-track" to a successful career;

provides students with the opportunity to work with many professionals
-- supervisors, management, consultants, and customers -- thereby developing
valuable interpersonal and communication skills;

builds maturity, self-responsibility, motivation, leadership and self-esteem
-- all of which are value-added traits desired by leading employers;

tends to improve students' grades because they are better able to see the
relevancy of course work to real-world situations;

enables students to identify their strengths and weaknesses;

helps students avoid academic burnout;

helps students develop competencies in three categories:

Dealing with People - communicating and influencing, and customer
orientation;

Dealing with Business - preventing and solving problems and achieving
results;

Dealing with Self-Management - personal credibility and flexibility;

sharpens students' analytical abilities;

puts students in touch with the needs and trends of industry and the labor
market;

provides a means of financial assistance regardless of family income levels
and does not leave students burdened with educational debts;

fosters
enthusiasm and respect for continuous, life-long learning;

provides students with the opportunity to come to an understanding of the
relationship between one's personal mission and values and organizational
mission and values;

adds another dimension of intellectual development that cannot be acquired
in the classroom;
and

assists in the economic and workforce development needs of the region and
beyond by better preparing students for the demands of the 21st century global
and competitive workplace.

In summary:

Findings show that as a result of cooperative education and internships,
students have a clearer and more specific sense of their career objectives
than students in traditional college programs.

Over 60% of all students participating in cooperative education and internships
are offered full-time jobs from their coop/internship companies before graduation.

The excitement and challenge of a cooperative/internship education experience
leaves students with a sense of accomplishment and personal satisfaction
as a result of the learning and goals achieved outside the classroom.

The work component and the contributions from cooperative/internship earnings
are major factors in encouraging first generation college students to pursue
a college degree.